From a Christian perspective, the sign of mature religion is not someone who asks “what would Jesus do?” Nor is it someone who picks and chooses from the scores of characters in the Bible that present themselves as good, religious boys and girls but who have a dark side and whose dark behaviors are often lauded and praised as admirable by the biblical writers, whose perspective was often skewed by tribalism or nationalism.

No, the goal of the Christian path – and, in fact, of every path – is to have absorbed through spiritual and religious practice the heart of the tradition, what Christians call the Holy Spirit, and so when confronted with a situation the believer has so internalized Wisdom that they know what to do without asking what someone else would have done. In the end, nothing less will do, because when we ask ourselves what Jesus would do we more often than not project our own immaturity onto Jesus, and so believe we find in him justification for endless atrocities. We might even yell, “crucify him!”